The wait is over!Image: NintendoPerhaps there's more to come. Some of us think the all-but-confirmed mouse-style functionality could be a game-changer, but it's hard not to see Switch 2 as a stop-gap console at this stage. This is a straight sequel to a barnstormer that gives Nintendo another generation to figure out what to do next - and I don't think Nintendo has another eight-year cycle to figure it out.Don't get me wrong: I love the look of this thing and the clack of the colourful, mercifully larger new Joy-Con into the system, and Nintendo will squeeze innovative interactions out of the familiar format. I imagine we'll be racing the buzzing Joy-Con across the table, using that optical sensor for things other than mouse movements, and plugging things into that USB-C port on the top for all sorts of zany peripheral action to surprise and delight.But the base offering here appears to be the least immediately intriguing home console the firm has put out since, what, the GameCube? And that had the benefit of a dramatic graphical upgrade over N64's visuals, plus a novel form factor. Mario Kart looks pretty good when you analyse the details, but nothing that couldn't be achieved on the current Switch (which has led some people at NL Towers to think it may even be cross-gen).Then again, everything Nintendo has done with Switch has been more influenced by its past handheld lines than its home consoles, and as we and other onlookers have said before, Switch 2 is very much the 3DS to Switch's original DS, just without the namesake gimmick.Might we all be madly theorising about this 'port' had the optical mouse-style functionality not been revealed through leaks? Image: NintendoThe thing is that Switch doesn't exist in a vacuum anymore. We've seen a flurry of bespoke handheld gaming devices come to market that, while not direct rivals with Nintendo's system, certainly take inspiration from it.The Steam Deck and Lenovo's line of handheld PCs are the most prominent, and Valve recently signalled that Steam OS is coming to other devices. Elsewhere, Sony's PlayStation Portal acknowledges players' increasing desire to play console games away from the TV. With Nintendo having proved that there's a mass market appetite, rumours that both Sony and Microsoft are working on new handheld devices suggest that the market is only going to get more crowded.Which is good. Competition forces innovation and it's in Nintendo's DNA to use tried-and-tested tech in new, unexpected ways. We're eager to see what the developers can do when they swing around for a second pass. And having extricated itself from the specs race many years ago, Nintendo is in its own bubble to an extent; whatever the competition does, they're not going to have Mario and co., at least not in any official capacity.I can't imagine Nintendo hardware tying us to a TV ever again. Increasingly big companies need to follow their audience wherever they go - that's why Microsoft and Sony are spreading beyond their own consoles. Given Switch's success, Nintendo's in a great position, but without some big new idea, it's rock-and-hard-place territory.Image: NintendoThis all sounds like a downer when the future is very bright and there's so much we still don't know. Sony fans don't get glum when the next console is a PlayStation with a new number, and rightly so. The reveal did the job and let us all breathe a sigh of relief - I just don't see this cycle lasting anywhere near as long as the last (which some might say is a good thing). At some point, Nintendo will have to upend the tea table with something truly unexpected and take video games in a new direction. For all the relief, there's a lingering question in the air: What's next, really?The answer? Great Nintendo games, of course; the tantalising prospect of a new generation's worth of first-party gems! As we've said in the past, nobody does 'more of the same' better than Nintendo; it just looks like 'delight' will be taking the wheel with 'surprise' in the backseat this gen. Dj vu2 soonSubscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube792kSee AlsoShare:00 Gavin first wrote for Nintendo Life in 2018 before joining the site full-time the following year, rising through the ranks to become Editor. He can currently be found squashed beneath a Switch backlog the size of Normandy. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesNintendo Asks Wii U Owners To Refrain From Using "Unauthorised" Online ServicesUpdate: Pretendo respondsNintendo Breaks Silence On 'Switch 2' Image And Video LeaksThe "official" announcement will take place this fiscal yearRumour: 'Switch 2' Will Reportedly Be Officially Revealed This ThursdayThough software won't be the focusIs This Our Best Look Yet At 'Switch 2'?Update: Genki had a visit from Nintendo's lawyers, it's claimed